Taking You With Me
by Ghrelt
Summary: Vala has come to the realisation that Daniel will never have feelings for her. Moving on is easier said than done, especially if Daniel has anything to say on it.


This kind of revelation was supposed to be precipitated by something dramatic. A death, or near-death. An illness or a disappearance or a birth or a wedding or a kiss or… something.

Something other than sitting across from him like you've done hundreds of times.

Something other than him looking up and meeting your gaze for just a moment, flashing a lazy half-smile, and then refocusing on his work.

But there he was, bent over his desk enraptured in some ancient text that could be the key to some treasure trove in a distant galaxy… or it could be a shopping list. Like he'd done thousands of times.

And he was _right there_. Right there in front of her and as always, his was a face she could watch for days. The way that line always appeared between his brows when he was thinking hard. Those impossibly blue eyes behind his glasses. The thin set of his mouth as he concentrated and that jawline she could always picture grazing with her teeth.

Not to mention those hands. Strong and broad. Long-fingered. Not the hands of the scholar he was but the hands of a man not afraid of hard work, a man willing to fight for what he believed in, and for who.

But those eyes didn't linger on her. Those hands didn't ache to touch her. That mouth didn't crave the touch of hers.

And suddenly, though she'd known all this for years, it was intolerable.

Something had to give. Vala Mal Doran was not a woman meant to be alone. She knew this about herself. She loved the bustle of a crowd and the flash of a smile and a warm body next to hers at night.

For a long time now, she had slept alone. And for nearly as long, she wished to sleep curled in the arms of the man a few feet from where she sat.

A man who would never want the same of her. He'd made that abundantly clear, in a myriad of ways.

If she is ever going to stop being alone, she has to forget these feelings for this impossible man first.

OOO

Daniel Jackson marched through the open door to Colonel Cameron Mitchell's supply closet of an office, planted his hands on the desk, and stared down the leader of his team. (Who was just minding his own business, dammit. Getting some paperwork done for once. Why the hell hadn't he locked the door?)

"Mitchell, what the hell is going on?" Daniel glowered down over disheveled stacks of papers.

Col. Mitchell blinked guiltily back. This is the thanks he got for trying to do his damn job. Cornered in his office and yelled at.

"Have a seat." He gestured to the worn chair on the opposite side of the desk, and Daniel thumped down into it.

Papers rustled as Mitchell pushed them together, stalling for time.

He should have known the man wouldn't wait for the invitation to speak.

"At first I just thought Vala asked for some time off. She hasn't gone out on the last three missions. And then yesterday the rest of the team went out on a mission and I _wasn't even notified_." Daniel's eyes flashed, his jaw set for a fight.

Mitchell sighed. Sometimes his job was like herding cats. Just one of many details O'Neill had failed to mention when he handed over the reins of SG:1.

"Look, you are not the only person I have to keep in mind when manning these missions."

"Yeah but when I'm available and not even informed that my team is going off-world, you'll excuse me if I start to wonder if there's a problem and somehow without my knowing why, that problem is me. The last time I checked, SG:1 was a team. A five-person team, that includes me, and has for the past _twelve years_."

Cam silently thanked the good Lord above that Daniel had the tact not to bring up that was eight years longer than he, himself had been part of the team.

"Look, it's my job to keep my subordinates functioning at their best, and believe it or not, that's exactly what I'm doing."

"If I did something wrong, I want to make it right. And if I didn't do anything wrong, I don't want to be punished for it." Arms crossed over his chest, he silently fumed.

A muscle twitched in Col. Mitchell's jaw. "Vala asked for some time and space. She didn't ask to be taken off the team. In fact, she was adamant that the team remain as-is. She does want to continue working with you. She just asked that on non-critical missions she be left behind when possible. I changed it up on the last mission because we were dealing with a contact of hers and I made the decision that she was more vital to the mission than you were."

"You could have just told me that in the first place."

"I was trying to grant her some privacy."

"So I haven't done anything?"

Mitchell shrugged. "It's not like she stormed in here ranting about being mistreated. So no, not as far as I'm concerned."

"Okay then, but how long do you think this can continue for? How long until something comes up where it's all hands on-deck? What then?"

"Then she can figure out how to work with you. You two argue like a couple of wet cats in a bag, and somehow handled working together so far. I'm sure you'll manage. Look, if you want to talk to bring this up with her, and you think you can do it sensitively, go ahead."

"Do you even think my talking to her is a good idea if it's me she's trying to avoid?"

Mitchell cocked his head, considering. Apparently Dr. Jackson was capable of more subtlety and sensitivity than he'd known. He shrugged, tilting his chair back on two legs. "This is Vala. Usually I send you to deal with her. She won't listen to anyone else."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Contrary to what you seem to believe, she won't listen to me either."

"Yeah but if I send you, I don't have to do it."

"Haha. Very funny."

 _If you keep glaring at me like that, your face will freeze that way._ Daniel only glared harder, as if Cam had spoken the words out loud.

"Go ahead and speak to her. Just don't come cryin' to me if she asks you to leave her alone. And if she does ask for that, I expect you to abide by it."

The words nearly caught in Daniel's throat. "Yeah. If she needs to be away from me so much, the least I can do is give her that."

OOO

He found her in Samantha's lab, one of her favourite haunts aside from Daniel's office.

All his good intentions of bringing the topic up gently went right out the window when he saw her for the first time in days. For some reason just seeing her stopped up his brain and started up his mouth.

"Vala… I don't get it. All of a sudden you don't want to work with me?" He swept into the room as he spoke, standing by the long metal workbench that dominated the center of the lab.

Vala's back was a stiff line as she rearranged random electronics on a shelf against the wall. She didn't turn as she spoke, "Look, Daniel. A lot has happened recently and I'd rather stay out of off-world missions for a while."

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" _You used to talk to me._

Instead of responding, she turned a piece of something-or-other in her hands for a moment before tossing it carelessly over her shoulder.

Quick reflexes were all that saved the palm-sized object from an untimely demise against the counter next to Daniel. Heaving a frustrated sigh, he set it gently on its surface behind him. _Very grown-up, Vala._

"Fine. _Good._ You've been through a lot. You _should_ take some time off. Take a vacation. Spend some time not getting shot at. But you didn't ask for time off. You asked not to be assigned with _me._ "

She spun around with that Cheshire grin that always terrified him plastered across her face. "Well, all this sexual tension is fun, but it is _exhausting_ , and a girl deserves a break once in a while, doesn't she?"

He stared blankly at her. "Look, if I've said or done something to upset you…"

"I didn't ask for an apology. I asked for space. And you know, Daniel, not everything is about _you_." She stalked out of the room, ignoring his stammering response as she turned the corner out of sight.

Blinking in the suddenly-empty room, Daniel pulled off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

OOO

Cameron Mitchell was a reasonable man. A decent man. A _patient_ man.

But after three more missions passed where he had to decide which of his two bickering teammates to bring along, he'd had enough.

"Jackson!" he called down the hallway as he spied the familiar hunched form absently meandering out of his office, eyes on the manuscript in his hand.

Daniel blinked out of his reverie, pausing as he let Mitchell catch up. "Was there something you needed me for?"

"Yeah," Mitchell replied as he grabbed Daniel by the arm and steered him back inside the room, nudging a box aside with his foot and letting the door fall closed with an ominous click.

Daniel backed up in an effort to give his agitated commander some space, ramming his leg into the corner of his desk in the process. He rubbed at the new bruise on his thigh as the man spoke.

"I don't know what's going on between you two, but it's time for you to fix it."

Daniel pulled a face. "Excuse me?" He'd been headed to the mess hall for a desperate hit of caffeine and his brain was not firing on all cylinders.

"You, and Vala. I'm tired of juggling you people."

Counting on his fingers, Daniel replied, "One, I have no idea what I did or didn't do in the first place. Two, I tried to apologise and that's when I got the 'I need space' talk, and three, in light of one and two, I don't see how this is my problem to fix."

He ranted as he paced the cluttered confines of Daniel's office. "When there's an issue with you, I can send Sam or Teal'c or even pull in General O'Neill to talk you into, or out of, or down off whatever the problem of the day is. Or send Vala. She can annoy you until you can't remember what the problem _is_."

"Yes…?" Daniel replied in his get-to-the-point-I'm-starting-to-lose-patience voice.

"Well, Vala only listens to two people: Vala, and you. You're the one I send in with her, and if she won't listen to you, she won't listen to anyone."

"Hey. You know that's not true. She's a member of this team now and she defers to you as such."

Mitchell shot him an incredulous look. "Yeah, she defers to me about as much as the rest of you lot. Which is to say, not much."

Daniel opened his mouth to argue and wisely closed it again. The Colonel had a point.

"Look, I know this isn't your problem, but I think you're the only one that can get to the root of it. And the next time I fall ass backwards into danger, I want my whole team at my back, and at a hundred percent. Understood?"

"Yeah." Daniel's shoulders fell as he let out a defeated breath.

"Well, get to it. Danger ain't gonna wait on the two of you to figure your shit out." He opened the door and turned back halfway out. "Kinda wish it would, really. Might actually have some peace in the galaxy for a change."

"If only it were that easy," Daniel replied to the empty room.

OOO

Vala was doing an excellent job of avoiding Daniel, if she did say so, herself. When on-base, she'd taken up helping Dr. Lee in his lab. The man didn't seem to mind her constant questions and his excitement over the work was infectious. He somehow made the science seem not-boring. Sam and Daniel should take notes.

She scowled as the man crossed her mind for the forty-seventh time that day. (Not that she was counting.) If only that Earth adage 'Out of sight, out of mind' applied in this case. More like 'Out of sight, driving me out of my mind'.

She'd run that one by O'Neill next time she saw him. He seemed to have an appreciation of such adages, not to mention intimate and longstanding knowledge of how Dr. Daniel Jackson was capable of driving a person insane.

Still, after careful planning which involved: avoiding the hall which held Dr. Jackson's office, switching to a nocturnal schedule, and engaging key employees at the SGC as early warning devices, she had managed to avoid all but a couple glimpses of him in the two weeks since last they spoke. (The first sighting, he'd come in to the mess hall at 2:30 am. She'd spotted him first and escaped through the kitchen accompanied by a couple of odd stares from the cooks. The second time she'd almost collided with him in a hallway as she exited Tealc's quarters. Fortunately Daniel was so wrapped up in the manuscript he was translating that he'd muttered an apology and sidled around her without even looking up or realising it was her.)

(Unbeknownst to her, a minute or so later he'd found himself standing in an empty hallway staring around at the walls, convinced that he'd missed something but entirely oblivious as to what it was.)

Working alongside Dr. Lee was another form of avoidance. His lab was not a place anyone who knew her would have thought to look and was therefore the best hiding place. He never seemed to be frustrated with her presence and was delighted with some of her unorthodox suggestions for his experiments. This burgeoning friendship had the added benefit of earning Sergeant Siler's undying appreciation for offering to be the doctor's guinea pig, saving Siler at least two visits to the infirmary. (Vala had 'borrowed' a Goa'uld healing device which she used on herself in such instances, partially to avoid a trip to the infirmary and by extension Dr. Lam's censure, and partially to avoid the high possibility of encountering her Daniel in said place.)

If pressed, she would say she was happy. It was nice to form her own connections here on Earth, instead of relying on Daniel to act as a liaison for her social interactions.

Damn, but she missed him though.

She missed ogling his butt while he was bent over his desk, distracted. She missed swiping his pen when he wasn't looking and watching in amusement as he would search for it, at first absently, feeling around where it had been without looking, then aggravated as he shuffled papers aside and peered under his desk, and finally he would straighten up, turn around with his hand already out, to find her grinning back at him and biting the end of his errant pen. Occasionally this benign theft would even earn her a faint smile. (Mostly, it got her glares. Either reaction gave her a little thrill of joy, in any case.)

She missed his excitement as he began to find the solution to a vexing problem and his irritation on the occasions she descended into boredom. She missed the way he used to check in with her when they were on missions and his unwavering faith in her inherent goodness as a person.

It appeared that removing herself from the presence of her unfortunate infatuation wasn't working.

Or it would need an inconveniently extended period of time in order to work.

"Bugger," she said to the empty room, blowing the bangs out of her eyes.

OOO

Daniel hovered at the entry to Sam's lab, uncharacteristically reluctant to enter. Finally he leaned in and knocked on the open door.

Major Samantha Carter flipped up her clear face guard and set down the soldering tool she'd been using on an elaborate electronic array. "Hey, Daniel. Need something?" Her face broke into a smile as she spied her old friend.

He dragged his feet as he entered the room, scratching at the back of his head. "Um… yeah. I… I could use some advice."

Sam nodded, pulling off the face guard and setting it on the workbench and running a hand over her blonde hair. The stools scraped along the concrete floor as she dragged them over to the counter from their place by the wall and sat down. Daniel took the unspoken invitation and sat down next to her.

She cocked her head silently as he took the time to form his words. Long experience had taught her that patience was the best approach when Daniel needed to get something off his chest.

"So… I'm sure you've noticed something off between me and Vala lately."

One of her eyebrows raised but his hand went up before she could open her mouth to speak.

"I'm not asking you to betray any confidence. It's just that… I already tried to apologise and she wouldn't hear it. She asked for space and I'm giving it to her but Mitchell just gave me an ultimatum to 'fix things'." He made sarcastic finger quotes in the air before bursting off his stool.

"How am I supposed to fix anything when I don't know what, if anything, I did wrong, and she won't hear me out!" He threw up his hands in exasperation.

Sam bit back the smile that threatened to surface.

"Daniel, I think what Vala needs from you is what she asked for: time, and space."

He glared at her from under his eyebrows. "Well, that's great, because I'm not allowed to give her those things anymore."

"Look, all Cam wants is for you to reassure him that the two of you can keep it professional when it counts. So go. Talk to her. Ensure you can work together, and leave it at that. If she wanted to talk, I doubt you could keep her from doing so."

"The only thing worse than having to force this conversation, is knowing that we need to have it, and not being able to," he confided.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. "You've been through worse than this, and come out alright. You and Jack used to fight like cats and dogs."

A low chuckle escaped him. "Yeah. Guess you're right."

"I usually am," she replied, grinning.

Daniel slid off his stool, shaking his head as faint smile lifted the corner of his mouth. "Thanks for the talk, Sam."

"Say hi to Teal'c for me," she said as he made to leave.

He gave a little wave behind his head in acknowledgement and ambled down the hall.

OOO

Teal'c's low voice rumbled through the closed door, "Enter."

Daniel was relieved to find the room bathed in candlelight. There were few things he found as calming as joining his friend in Kelno'reem – something about the peaceful meditation reminded him of his time as an ascended being.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked.

Teal'c nodded to the space next to him and Daniel took the invitation to sit.

"You seem troubled, DanielJackson."

"That obvious, huh? If I'm disturbing you…"

"Were it an imposition, I would not have invited you in."

Daniel closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath, willing the peace and serenity his friend exuded to find its way inside himself.

Long moments passed in companionable silence as the two men meditated. Finally, Daniel opened his eyes to find Teal'c considering him patiently.

"I have no idea what to do. I'm used to problems that can be solved with logic, research, and intelligence. But when it comes to Vala, none of those things work. She's so impulsive I feel like trying to relate to her is like navigating a minefield while blindfolded."

So much for his inner peace.

"You miss her."

"Of course I miss her." Daniel threw his hands up in the air and glared at the ceiling. "She drives me completely batshit insane. What's not to miss?"

"And yet…"

His hands flopped back down to his lap as he deflated. "God help me, but I do. She turned my world completely upside down from the moment she walked into my life, and now for some incomprehensible reason, when she's not around, I _crave_ the chaos. Before I met her, I liked peace and quiet."

"Perhaps you should be telling herthese things, DanielJackson."

"What, and give her more ammunition to use against me? No thank you."

"I believe such news may aid in the return of her smile. Its presence has been rare, of late."

For some reason that made his chest tighten.

"SG:1 has not been the same without the both of you. I believe the only way to repair this is for you and ValaMalDoran to speak to each other."

He already knew that. "Thanks." He rose to his feet as Teal'c nodded in acknowledgement.

Daniel should have known that while consulting his friends would garner him good advice, it would grant him no answers.

OOO

"Jackson," Mitchell peered around the corner into Daniel's office.

"Hey, Mitchell. I was just about to go track Vala down."

"Don't bother. I'm sorry I put that on you; it isn't your problem to fix. It's mine."

"Wha… what's that supposed to mean?"

 _Medical team to Lab 18C. Repeat: medical team to lab 18C._ Doctor Lee's voice came over the PA system.

"Siler?" asked Mitchell.

"Likely," replied Daniel.

Siler was in the infirmary even more often than Daniel, if that was even possible.

"So, as I was saying, my problem to fix."

"That sounds rather ominous." Dread settled into the pit of Daniel's stomach.

"Hey, I did my best to accommodate all this without doing anything permanent, but if my team can't work together, someone might need to be reassigned."

Daniel's heart raced as he contemplated the outcome. "If you reassign Vala, she might leave altogether." The thought hit him like a punch to the gut.

"She might. Which is why I'm jumping through all these hoops to keep from making all these decisions. On one hand, you've been the best mind in the SGC for over ten years now. You're literally our top civilian. On the other, Vala's knowledge of this galaxy and her connections have been invaluable. I'd hate to lose either of you, but know that I wouldn't just choose you because you've always been here."

"No," Daniel replied with a soft shake of his head. "That would hardly be fair."

"I'm glad you understand."

The two men stared at each other as they contemplated the end of their working together.

Landry's voice crackled over Mitchell's radio a moment later. "Col. Mitchell?"

"Here, Sir."

"I need you in the infirmary."

"On my way, sir." He let the radio click off. "We'll have to finish this conversation later," he said, breaking into a jog the moment he passed into the hallway.

"Looking forward to it," Daniel replied to the empty room. Whatever the problem was, at least it granted him reprieve from this conversation.

OOO

It could have been minutes or hours later when the phone on Daniel's desk rang. He always lost track of time when he was deep in his work. Shifting piles of scrolls out of the way and moving stacks of books and papers, he finally found the blasted thing. It's not like people had the habit of actually calling him, anyways.

"Jackson here."

"It's Mitchell. You need to get down to the infirmary. Don't freak out; she's gonna be fine."

"Who's gonna be fine?" for the briefest instant he flashed back to the sight of Janet lying dead on the ground next to him.

"Vala. She's the one they called the…"

The reciever clattered to the ground mid-sentence as Daniel ran out the door.

OOO

Mitchell barely got the chance to finish telling him what had happened to Vala before Jackson dragged Dr. Lee out of the infirmary by the arm and all but pinned him to the wall outside. "What the hell were you thinking putting her in danger like that?"

Lee shrunk back from the onslaught. "She volunteered! We were testing a sort of hand-held electrocution device and it malfunctioned. She hit her head when the current fed back into her hand and she started convulsing. Normally with that sort of minor injury she'd have used the Goa'uld healing device on herself! No harm, no foul."

"You mean this has happened before!?" If it was even possible, Doctor Jackson's yelling got even louder. Lee began sidling towards the infirmary door.

"Nothing serious, I promise!"

Doctor Lam leaned out of the infirmary door and hissed, "You two! Shut up or find another floor to yell on. I'm trying to work here!" and disappeared back inside.

"Vala understood the risks. She was fine with them. The last time I checked she was a grown woman and you're not her keeper," Lee continued in high-pitched tone. His eyes strayed to the infirmary door as he edged away from his agitated co-worker.

"You done?" Sam said, poking her head out of the infirmary door. Dr. Lee saw his chance and scurried past her to the relative safety inside.

Daniel rubbed the back of his neck. "No. Yes. I'll stop yelling."

"Come on in then." She held the door for him, and he shuffled his way in.

Vala lay on a hospital bed in the back corner, pale, eyes closed. A nurse moved a wand slowly over her body as Doctor Lam watched a monitor by the bedside. Col. Mitchell and Teal'c stood side-by-side by an empty bed, back and out of the way. Teal'c met his eyes as he and Sam came to stand with the rest of the team, nodding mutely.

Lee hid in an empty corner near the door, looking on while blotting his balding forehead with his sleeve.

This never got any easier. Daniel's heart had been racing since the moment he'd known she'd been hurt. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, willing them to stop shaking.

"How is she?" he whispered to Mitchell.

Mitchell shrugged. "Mild burns to the hand. Suspected concussion. Not sure the extent of damage from electrocution."

"I'm gonna kill Siler," he hissed under his breath.

Mitchell rounded on him. "No, you're not. It's not his fault any more than it was Dr. Lee's. And you will hold it together or I will boot your ass out of the infirmary myself."

Daniel bit the inside of his cheek, seething but silent for the time being. Teal'c's hand came to rest on his shoulder, a calming weight to balance his nerves. Closing his eyes, he focused on taking long deep breaths, slowing his heart rate and stilling the shaking.

Mitchell shot Teal'c a look of gratitude. Cam wouldn't have thought it possible but the unpredictable thief and the irritable archaeologist had been even more difficult to manage apart than together. He'd take all the help he could get.

They all stood for the long minutes it took for the medical staff to complete their assessment. Waiting like this was a long familiar, if undesired, friend. They'd all been through and seen worse than this, but that was scant comfort in the moment.

Sam suddenly missed Jack. Even years after he'd left the team, it still felt wrong to wait like this without him.

Finally Dr. Lam finished and came to them, shooting a glare at Daniel on the way.

"Well?" asked Mitchell.

"It's as we thought. Mild concussion. Slight burns. The shock stunned her pretty good. That's why I think she's still unconscious. We'll keep her until after she wakes and re-asses when she's conscious and can give me feedback. You can see her now. Just... keep things quiet."

They all filed around her to their teammate's side. Except Daniel. Dr. Lam snagged him by the arm as he passed and pulled him to an empty hospital bed. Pulling the curtain closed around them, she rounded on him, simultaneously releasing his arm. "I get that you care about Vala."

He opened his mouth to respond and she talked right over him. "But so help me, you will keep your drama the hell away from my infirmary. There are twenty seven other levels you can yell on, so next time, pick one of them. Or I will have you banned from the this place, excepting when you need medical care."

Daniel had the grace to look embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I'll show more restraint next time. Promise."

Dr. Lam smiled and patted him on the arm. "See that you do." Pulling his shoulder around, she gave him a small push back in the direction of the patient. "Now go see your friend."

He wasted no time, pulling back the curtain and striding across the room.

She was pale and still beneath the sheet. Her hair haloed around her head in a thick jumble, half-fallen out of her pigtails. Her breathing was quiet but strong, and her eyes remained closed. Wires lead out from the neckline of her hospital gown and the monitor by the bedside showed her heart rate was steady in the high-normal range.

The rest of the team had flowed around both sides of the bed, and Daniel hovered by the foot.

"Hey, Princess. You wake up soon, ya hear? No more scarin' us like this." Col. Mitchell patted her arm and moved to stand by Daniel.

Samantha kissed Vala on the cheek. "Get better soon. We'll go shopping once you're up and about," she promised.

"ValaMalDoran, please return to us with all haste," Teal'c added.

They clustered at the foot of the bed and Mitchell rested his hand on Daniel's shoulder, meeting his eyes for a moment before the three of them moved off together, leaving Daniel and Vala alone.

He sat down in the chair by the head of the bed. There was plenty he'd like to say, but in light of her recent attitude towards him and the other ears in the room, he remained silent.

Others trickled in to check on her over the next few hours, from the medical staff to Dr. Lee and Siler, to staff he recognised from the kitchen, and the rest of SG:1 came through again at intervals. They seemed content to let him hold vigil, as he seemed rooted to the spot. He acknowledged most of them with a nod or a smile, and in an effort to make nice, simply glared at others. Siler came to stand by Daniel's shoulder when he came in, offering a small apology. He looked so worried for Vala that Daniel couldn't help but forgive him. God knows it wasn't his fault she'd been injured.

By the time she awoke, he'd fallen asleep slumped in the chair.

She blinked against the light, dim as it was, and pulled her tongue along teeth that had gone dry. Her head pounded against the back of her eyes and her stomach fluttered unpleasantly. Spying a cup with a straw in it by her bedside, she leaned across and pulled it to herself with a shaking hand, gladly sucking the moisture into her dry throat.

That dealt with, she surveyed her surroundings.

Of course _he'd_ have to be there. Holding vigil by her side like a lover and making her _feel things_. Things he didn't share. He was a good friend. Over the last two years, he'd shown in a thousand ways just how much he cared.

If only he cared in the way she wanted him to.

This was becoming intolerable.

She hit the call button and watched as Dr. Lam strode to her bedside.

"How are you feeling?" the doctor asked softly with a quick glance at Jackson.

"Like someone drove a team of horses through my body and out my head."

"Do you remember what happened?"

Vala smiled faintly. "The device backfired and knocked me out."

"That sums it up pretty well."

"When can I use the Goa'uld healing device on myself?"

Daniel stirred in the corner, sitting up without interrupting the conversation.

"Not for at least a couple of days. We don't want any more pressure on your head than we have already. We'll manage any pain with medication until then."

Vala's head thumped back on the pillow and she winced as it hit.

Dr. Lam let that go without comment. "I'd like to keep you overnight for observation, but I don't foresee any further complications. I should be able to sign off on your release tomorrow morning. Any questions?"

Vala shook her head slowly, as though even that small motion hurt. "I'll have a nurse give you something for the pain," the doctor promised before turning on her heel and leaving them in peace.

Daniel rose to his feet, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Vala's gaze fell on him for the barest hint of a moment before skittering away.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't plan on being here when you woke up."

"No, it's alright. I… thank you for being here, Daniel."

Her words hit him like a spike to the chest. For some reason this stilted politeness hurt worse than the silence. The avoidance. Where was the flirting, the teasing, the frustration that used to exist between them? Now they seemed reduced to ridiculous platitudes.

"I'll… go get the rest of the team. They'll want to know you're awake." He hovered there for a moment before darting out of the room like it was on fire.

He found himself in his office first, perching on the edge of his desk and setting his glasses down beside him with a _click_. He just needed a moment to compose himself before alerting the others.

It would figure Sam would walk in moments later, as he pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to blink away the stinging behind his eyes.

"Daniel," she grasped the door handle hard. "Is there something…?" Panic flared in her chest as she mentally calculated all of the reasons he'd be this upset. At least nine of those were associated with their team mate in the infirmary.

He waved at her without looking. "She's fine." His voice came out muffled behind his hand. "Just woke up. You should go see her." Both his hands came to rest on the edge of his desk and he stared straight ahead at the wall.

She let go of the door and came to his side, resting one hand on his shoulder gently. "This has been hard on you."

He nodded and she pulled him into a hug. "She won't let me in. Somethings wrong and she won't let me fix it and normally that would piss me off but right now…"

"It just hurts," she finished for him. His arms tightened around her for a moment before they both let go.

Daniel dragged a hand through his hair and slid his glasses back on. "Look, can you tell the others she's awake?"

She patted him on the arm. "Will-do. I'll keep you apprised of how she's doing."

"Thanks, Sam." She flashed a sad smile before leaving the room. He tried to return it, but his face failed him.

OOO

Since she was awake now, there was no reason not to leave her be, as she seemed to want.

Days later, it would be Vala who came to him, catching him in his office. He looked up, surprised to see her there, and smiled. "Hey, you. Up and about?"

She nodded, her ponytail bobbing. "Yup. Used the healing device on myself two days ago. I slept for fourteen hours after, but as good as new now."

He set down the scroll he'd been rolling up and turned as she flounced over and perched on the edge of his desk.

Like she used to. Something in his chest hitched at the sight. "So." He sat down in his seldom-used chair. "What's up?"

Her face twisted. "Landry cornered me this morning. Said if you and I didn't figure out our personal issues he was seriously considering giving us 'The O'Neill Treatment'. Whatever that means."

Daniel bit his lip to smother a laugh. "Well that could be one of a couple of things; either we're going to be sent to a cabin in the middle of Minnesota, although in SGC vernacular I believe that's referred to as _'Fishing Torture'_ , or he's going to lock us in a room together until we either work out our problem or kill each other."

She cocked her head. "What does that have to do with..?"

"Jack once locked two arguing dignitaries in a room together for a couple of days. When they came out they were getting along measurably better with each other, and wanted nothing to do with Earth."

She sat up straight. "Oooh! Can there be handcuffs?"

His hand found his forehead without bothering to ask him first. "No, Vala. There will be no handcuffs."

"Oh, well then. That's not what I came to speak to you for anyways."

"Thank God for that." He pulled his hand down and stuffed it in his pocket. He was starting to remember how exasperating this woman was. It was a wonder he'd missed that, or her, at all.

When had he become such a masochist?

"So," she rubbed her hands along her thighs as she avoided his gaze, "I was thinking of going on a road trip and… Iwaswonderingifyouwouldgowithme." The last sentence came out in a rapid-fire string of word vomit.

"I… pardon?"

She sighed, staring up at the ceiling. "I was wondering if you would go with me."

His chair scraped along the floor as he dragged it around so he could face her. "Vala. I know you've been working out some things lately and that you've wanted some space from me."

She nodded, encouraging him to continue.

"I've tried to abide by that. What I don't understand is why you want to go from that, to being cooped up alone… I assume alone?" he interrupted himself. After she nodded again, chewing on her lip, he continued, "…cooped up alone with me for hours or days at a time." His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "This isn't a ploy to get us sharing a bed?" he paused. "Or kill me and hide the body?"

"I'm shocked you'd consider such a thing." Her hand pressed to her chest in mock distress and she batted her eyes.

"I'm being serious. I know the appalling amount of bad television you watch."

"I solemnly swear this is not a ploy to get you into bed." She paused for a moment, thinking. "Or naked. Or any other situation that I might find funny or sexy but you would find humiliating. Or to kill you and hide the body. Seriously, you know I have access to zat guns right? If I wanted you dead, there'd be no body to find." She stared at him as though the very concept was ludicrous. "Also, it's a day trip. No hotels. Or motels. Or beds. Is that good enough for you?"

"Partially. Still didn't answer my question. And for the record: if we end up at a motel that conveniently has only one single room left, I'm sleeping in the car."

"Duly noted," she replied. She kicked her legs and stared around unseeingly at the walls. "I like your planet. It's the only one I know of with anything resembling a 'road trip'. Most planets either are still using horses, or most travel is done by flight. I'd like to see more of your Earth. But as you know, Landry doesn't trust I won't revert to my old ways and start planning a heist if left alone in your America for too long, so I need an escort. Teal'c would be perfect but as an 'alien' the SGC would never trust him to keep me out of trouble here. I already took a trip with Mitchell and he bored me to tears. Sam's busy here and I believe she's scheduled for some of that 'fishing torture' you mentioned, though I'd wager she spends a lot more time naked and a lot less time fishing when it's just the two of them." Her eyebrows waggled comically.

She wasn't wrong though.

"So that leaves you. I need a vacation away from this place and I want to do it here on the planet I'm calling home. Plus, there's some things I would like to talk to you about, away from work and while we aren't being shot at."

He considered her words. A road trip with Vala. The two of them alone together. In a box. It was a recipe for disaster. But she'd come to him. She was making an effort. The least he could do was reciprocate, while possibly saving the SGC from having to cover up some sort of interplanetary incident. (If anyone could cause an interplanetary incident while on a road trip, it was the incorrigible rogue sitting across from him. Of that, he had no doubt.)

"Where did you have in mind?"

"Well," she hopped off his desk and pulled out the keyboard drawer, rapidly typing in his password and pulling up the internet. In a matter of seconds she had pulled up a map. "I wanted to go to Vegas or Atlantic City."

He shuddered at the sheer amount of trouble she could get into in a casino. Or any place that offered quickie marriages. Then had to blink away the flash image of the two of them at the altar with some horrible Elvis impersonator officiant, followed by waking up next to Vala with the worst hangover of his life.

"But Landry pooped that party. He says the last thing he needs is to have to bail his staff out of jail," she continued, oblivious to his thoughts. "So instead, I've polled various members of the SGC, and I have it on good authority that something called 'Trail Ridge Road' is an excellent sightseeing drive. I'd rather drive the coast in a convertible, but it's a 20-some-hour drive just to get to the coast from here, and much as I enjoy your company, three days in a car with you and I think I'd chew my own arm off. So Trail Ridge Road it is." She stepped back proudly to show him the route she'd pulled up on a map.

He examined the image, stuffing down irritation that she'd somehow figured out his password… _again_. "I've never been there. I've heard it's beautiful though. Sad. I've lived here for over twelve years, and never took the time," he commented.

"We leave in the morning two days from now, drive three or so hours to get there. We spend a couple hours there, and factoring in stopping for food and gas, the whole trip is done in 8-10 hours. Home by bedtime. No hotel rooms or bad sitcom plots required."

He turned to find her standing with her hands on her hips, head held at a jaunty angle.

"What do you think?" she asked.

He thought a lot of things. Most of them had to do with how much he did not want to do this. Wouldn't she prefer to have Sam with her? Girl talk and shopping or some other nonsense? What would possess Vala of all people to want to go on a drive to see the mountains when she could step through a gate to do the same?

She was extending an olive branch here, and if he ever wanted to repair their friendship, he needed to make an effort.

He plastered on a faux smile. "Sounds great!" he finally replied.

The look she shot him told him she didn't believe it for one second. But she shrugged. As long as he was willing to come along, that was all she needed. "We leave at 10 am day after tomorrow. I've already cleared it with Landry. You have that day and the next off; you just need to sign off on it."

"Well. I guess we're going on a road trip." He did his best to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach as he said those words out loud.

OOO

Two days later he arrived at her apartment in Colorado Springs at precisely ten-hundred.

The curtain flicked and she waved down from her second-storey window as he pulled up to the curb. Pocketing the key, he climbed out and leaned on the front fender of his forest-green Jeep as he waited.

A couple of minutes later she appeared with a backpack slung over one shoulder and carrying a duffle bag.

The shirt she wore under her open jacket was almost precisely the same shade of blue she wore on their ill-fated not-a-date two years earlier and he wondered if she was trying to send some sort of subtle message. Ignoring his own paranoia, he opened the back door for her to sling her luggage on the seat alongside his. She flashed him a welcoming grin as she tossed the bags in.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Let's get this show on the road!" she replied, and he tossed her the keys.

In her shock, she barely managed to catch them, bobbling them twice before reeling them in. "You're letting me drive?" She peered suspiciously at him, wondering what the catch was.

He shrugged. "Your trip. Your plan." _Don't screw it up_ , he added mentally.

She climbed behind the wheel before fumbling in her purse, pulling out a pair of sunglasses and sliding them on, then unfolding and slapping a haphazardly-folded map down on the dash. Picking it up, Daniel noted that she'd marked their projected route in green marker, including potential pit-stop and sites to fuel up scribbled along the way in red pen.

"You put a lot of thought into this," he said.

She nodded. "Yup." With that succinct answer, she started up the Jeep and they were on their way.

They drove in silence as she navigated out of town. Vala was focused on the road, and Daniel was content to the company of his own thoughts and giving her the space to speak if and when she needed to.

Not long after they made it to the highway, she dug around in her purse once more, pulling out a small device and a coiled cord, and the silence was broken.

Very loudly, very continuously broken.

It appeared someone had introduced the woman to the wonders of the ipod. Daniel sighed. This was going to be a long trip.

She proceeded to sing along with every song, often off-key and at the top of her lungs. Her smile as she sang was exuberant, and he before long found himself smiling as well.

Even if her taste in music was questionable, to say the least.

She was an excellent driver, though she drove like she expected the poor Jeep to handle and accelerate like a sports car. The miles spun by as they passed cars and wide rolling plains of scrub brush and farm buildings.

Two hours in she pulled over to a roadside truckstop in the outskirts of Denver. "Lunch?" she asked.

"Sure," he replied as he pulled off his leather jacket and tossed it into the back seat.

Vala allowed herself to admire the way his grey t-shirt stretched across his chest and his jeans hugged his thighs. She so rarely got to see him in anything that actually showed off his excellent, decidedly non-nerdy physique.

Just because she was moving on didn't mean she couldn't appreciate the view.

"If you want, after we've eaten we can pull the soft top off," he said, oblivious to her thoughts. He knew it would be colder up in the mountains, but she'd said she wanted to rent a convertible, and a Jeep with the top off was the next best thing. Better, if you asked him.

The way her face lit up told him everything he needed to know.

They'd caught the restaurant on a slow day; only a few tables held diners, and a couple of bored-looking waitresses chatted by the coffee machine. One came right over with menus as soon as they sat down, offering a friendly hello and rattling off the special before meandering off to get their coffee order.

"I love places like this," Vala said wistfully.

"Oh?" Daniel glanced up from his menu.

"Remind's me of Sol's." She smiled fondly and an answering smile spread across his face. "Sal was good to me. Everyone there was."

"I'm glad they helped you. We were all worried sick those three weeks."

"But you found me."

"Wouldn't have stopped looking until we did."

She swallowed hard and stared out the window as a sigh escaped.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

She turned to face him and brightened to that faux-cheerful expression he hated. "No. Nothing. So, how've you been these past few weeks?"

He shrugged. "Busy with translations, as per usual. Strangely able to find my pens." One of his eyebrows shot up as he mock glared at her.

"Peculiar."

"You're telling me. Every time it was exactly where it was supposed to be, I found myself looking around like something was wrong."

"I have you trained well." The smile turned genuine, and something loosened in his chest.

He was saved from having to answer that one by the arrival of the waitress with their coffee. They made small talk until the food arrived and Daniel even managed to coax a laugh or two from Vala.

It lit up the room.

They kept to their thoughts as they ate and Vala swiped the bill before he got the chance. "My trip," she insisted. He conceded her point without comment.

OOO

The sun beat down warm in the early afternoon as they pulled off the soft top and stowed it and their bags in the weatherproof lock box that was lag-bolted in the rear of the Jeep. He fished around in his pack for a moment before pulling out a plain army green bandana and a pair of sunglasses. She took that time to admire the way his jeans fit across his ass.

Perhaps it was for the best that he usually wore the ubiquitous SGC cargo pants. Otherwise she'd never get anything done. Seriously, that uniform disguised a beautiful body. Spying her contented smile as he turned, he eyed her warily. "What?"

"Oh, nothing!" she said with a grin as she sauntered off to get back behind the wheel.

Daniel finished stowing their gear, slipped on the sunglasses and wordlessly handed the bandana to Vala as he climbed back into the passenger seat.

She nodded her thanks before tying it over her hair and sliding her own pair of oversized sunglasses into place. Putting the Jeep in gear, she pulled back out into traffic.

The music did not return. The wind through the open vehicle would have drowned it out anyways, and they didn't bother trying to speak over the noise. The day continued to co-operate; a few wisps of cloud was all that broke up the clear blue of the sky as the road wound its way up into the mountains, though more loomed grey on the horizon.

The views were breathtaking. Daniel had seen them, or something like them, plenty of times before, whether here on Earth or off-world, but between his focus on the ruins or the people there (or the running for their lives) he'd never had time to really take in the scenery. Not driving, he had ample opportunity to do so now.

They passed pine trees that stretched into the sky and precipitous drops. Long, curving switchbacks carried them up to the ridge of the once-distant mountains that rose in jagged relief to the skyline, into the alpine meadows that were dotted with rocks and devoid of trees. White dotted the peaks in the near-distance, still clinging there in defiance of the month of June.

He found his eyes straying from the scenery outside the vehicle to the view inside it more often than he'd like to admit.

She'd merged so seamlessly with SG-1 that most of the time he forgot how constraining the workaholic life in the SGC could be for a person like Vala. But here, gone were the many personas she put on in her daily life. Here she seemed relaxed, and focused, and… free.

She was almost unbearably beautiful, with the wind blowing the ends of her ponytail against her face and the sun kissing her skin, a faint smile lighting her face from within.

For a moment he was back on the _Prometheus_. Her weight across his legs and her lips pressed to his. He blinked it away with the guilty reminder that he'd kissed her back. _Who kisses the crazy person who's currently beating them up?_

Suddenly he wanted to reach across the space between them, turn her head towards him, and do it again. To open his mouth and feel her tongue against his and _where the hell did that come from?_

His gaze snapped back out the passenger side window. Anywhere but at her.

He'd had that feeling come over him before, but not for a while. It always came on just that suddenly, but since that first kiss he had ignored it _every single time._

Vala drove on, thankfully oblivious to the stray thoughts of the man beside her.

She gave no indication of where their destination was, if there was one, navigating the curves with relaxed skill. The map was stuffed in the centre console and he was content to let her take them wherever.

As they wound along the summit of the trail, she smoothly slowed and pulled off the road into a small roadside parking lot.

A family of three stood by one of a handful of cars, stretching their legs as Daniel and Vala got out of the Jeep. A paved path led out from the parking lot, curving gently up rock-strewn hill across the top of the mountain, past a small building and a sign that identified the Toll Memorial Trail. Vala pocketed the keys and made her way downhill across the highway in the opposite direction from the trail.

Well above the treeline, the wind whistled over the mountain unimpeded, carrying a chill and the faintest hint of rain in the thin mountain air. Daniel scooped his leather jacket from the back seat and shrugged into it as he jogged to catch up with her. She stopped on an outcrop of rock where the ground dropped out and the view of the mountains was unimpeded. The highway was just out of sight behind them, the intermittent hum of passing vehicles the only sign they hadn't left civilization behind entirely. Vala sat down on a flat sun-warmed rock and he lowered himself down next to her.

He allowed his eyes to drift closed and pulled off his sunglasses, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his face. A couple minutes passed in companionable silence before he spoke up. "This is nice. Peaceful."

"It's beautiful here," she replied, her voice almost reverent. "We go to so many incredible places across the galaxy, but rarely take the time to enjoy the view."

"Too much time running for our lives or exploring musty old crypts," he agreed.

"I thought you loved those crypts," she teased.

"I love what's _in_ those crypts," he corrected. "History you can touch with your hands, and a window into the lives of people hundreds or thousands of years ago. I usually need someone to remind me to enjoy _this_." His arm swept out to indicate the vista before them. "So thank you for that. Really." Out of the corner of his eye he saw a peaceful smile play over her face.

She pulled off her own sunglasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "You make this very difficult for me. You know that, right?"

"Uuuh, what?" he replied.

She hugged her knees, resting her chin there. "You're just… so _nice_. So _genuine_. So _kind._ It's disgusting."

"So you brought me here to compliment me by insulting me?" he asked incredulously.

"Shut up and let me continue," she bit out. "This isn't easy for me." She waved an arm vaguely in the air. "To _talk_ about this."

He opened his mouth to retort before letting it slam closed with a click.

She continued on. "Knowing that I have feelings for you that you don't reciprocate."

His brain stuttered. "I what?" He stiffened in place as he turned to face her. "What in the hell gives you the idea I don't have feelings for you?" The words slipped out before they could filter through his brain. She had that effect on him.

Dammit.

"Well, Daniel, when a man likes a woman in a certain way, he tries to seduce her."

He sputtered as she lurched to her feet to glare down at him. "He does not," she continued, "Rebuff her attempts to seduce him. Repeatedly."

Unwilling to have this conversation while sitting blinded by the sun, he stood back up. "The times you tried to…" his mouth twisted as he forced himself to say the word, "…seduce me, you were…" he counted on his fingers. "…trying to distract me so you could steal my ship, and then you were messing with me, so it's kind of difficult for me to a) take your advances seriously, or b) give even a single thought to even the idea of anything close to se-…" he trailed off, "… I can't even say it. I cannot even say that word out loud, the _concept_ is so preposterous."

"Well if you'd just given in back then we wouldn't even be having this conversation!" she shouted back.

"If I'd given in back then, you'd have left, and I'd be just one more miserable idiot you left in your wake."

"Ha!" she countered. "You'd have forgotten me in no time. You're immune to my charms."

"You might find this hard to believe, but I'm not. I never was really. But that's beside the point. My point is, you stuck around, and because of that I got to know you. I'm finding it difficult to believe at the moment, but I'm actually glad for that."

Her hands were back on her hips as she stared him down. "Beside the point?! How is the fact that you were attracted to me 'beside the point'? It _is_ the point!"

"Since I never acted on it, I hardly think that's relevant now."

"So you're telling me that you have absolutely no attraction to me now." She slowly moved into his space, absorbing all the air around him. He swallowed hard. "That all that was in the past. You think of me like a sister."

"I never said that," he managed to rasp past suddenly-dry lips.

"So," she paused just short of her chest touching his, "Let's assume for the sake of argument that you are attracted to me." She spun on her heel so fast it left him dizzy, and suddenly she was pacing once more, flinging her hands in the air. "Then why in the hell have you never _done_ anything about it?"

"Well if you're a freight train when it comes to relationships, I'm pretty sure I'm a glacier," he responded, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, I've been pretty much single since Sha're died. That's coming up on ten years. Not to mention, I didn't trust you enough for that when we first met, and by the time I trusted you enough to even consider it, we were co-workers."

"What does trust have to do with it? You want someone, you get naked together, you move on. Easy."

"I don't work that way, Vala. I never did."

"And that," her eyes flashed as she bit out her response, "is exactly the problem! You've ruined me for other men! You've ruined me for other men and you won't even sleep with me to fix it! No one else can hold up to the ridiculous standards you've set. Even Tomin, who was a good, kind man who loved me very much didn't treat me as well as you did when you didn't even like me!" She spun away, stomping as she paced, waving her hands in the air and mumbling to herself. "He left me pregnant and tied in the square hungry and thirsty for _three days_. You got yourself nearly burned to death for trying to save me. And that was right after I prevented you from being able to go to Atlantis. For the _second time._ Your dream job. A place tailor-made for Dr. Daniel Jackson. And you _still_ defended me. How am I supposed to find someone when _that_ 's what I have to compare them to?"

He stared after her, trying to make sense of the mess of contradictions she'd just flung at him.

She whirled on him once more before he had the chance to formulate a reply. "And taking time and space to try and move on has done _nothing_ to help it! All I've done is pull the team apart." She dragged in a long, shuddering breath, and her voice lowered. "That's why I wanted to come here to have this conversation." He came to stand next to her, straining to hear over the blowing wind. "I was afraid that if we talked, and I got upset, I'd go through the gate to get away. And then I'd never come back."

Her words lodged in his ribcage, unexpected and sharp.

"Whatever happens here, I don't want that." She glanced at him as she finished, suddenly spent.

He met her eyes. "I don't want that either. In fact, there isn't a thing I can think of that I would want _less_ than that," he added softly as he tugged on her hand, pulling her into his arms.

She shivered, sliding her hands under his jacket to rest on his back, clinging to his warmth. "You're cold," he said unnecessarily. She nodded into his shoulder, and he pulled her tighter.

They stood there for long minutes, him for comfort and her for warmth and… something.

"So, where does this leave us?" She reluctantly pulled away from him.

He stepped back, sliding out of his jacket and settling it over her shoulders. She pulled the edges closed, humming softly at the warmth. Sitting down on a rock, he reached up and tugged her down next to him, pulling her in against his side and leaving his arm slung over her shoulders. "I believe a declaration or two may have gotten buried in that argument," he said.

"Oh? Declaration?" The hint of curiosity in her tone was weighed down with exhaustion.

"Pretty sure you said you had feelings for me."

"Doubt that was news to you. I've made my intentions pretty clear."

"In the past I may have… misinterpreted your intentions."

"Ha," she barked humourlessly. "Tell me something I don't know."

She felt him draw in a deep breath, shuddering against her side. "I've been in love with you for years. All this time I've been too afraid to say or do anything about it."

The words came out soft, barely there above the wind that ruffled his hair and drew goosebumps from his bare arms. His breath tickled her ear as he spoke them, his body a tense line against hers.

She turned to search his face, finding a jumble of emotions there she couldn't untangle. "I…I thought…you didn't…" she stuttered out.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I thought you were messing with me. I've seen the way you manipulate men, and I thought you were doing the same with me."

"I was… at first," she admitted.

"I've been afraid of you. Of what loving you could do to me. Of what losing you could do to me. After I lost Sha're… and then Janet… I don't ever want to feel that way again."

"Janet?" she asked.

"She was the doctor before Lam. We were never really together, but I loved her very much. I was there when she was killed by a stray bullet. I watched her die."

"Geez, Daniel. What, are you trying to out-tragedy me now? I mean, I've got a few stories that could put your hair on end."

His eyes widened for a second before a bark of laughter escaped him.

That smile. It drew her like a moth to the flame and she tilted towards him before she even knew what she was doing.

Pressed her lips to the corner of his grinning mouth.

The laughter was gone in an instant as his mouth shifted to meet hers. On purpose this time.

The earth didn't move. Her soul didn't shatter in his arms. A lifetime of pain and abuse wasn't erased in an instant.

But his lips were warm and his arms were strong and there on the rocky hillside, buffeted by the wind and bathed by the sun, something inside her shifted, settling into place.

Their lips and hands explored as a stone dug into his left ass cheek and her lower back ached where she twisted in an awkward angle to reach him and Daniel had the presence of mind to keep it PG (mostly) out in the open like they were. They didn't notice as the clouds that had dogged them from a distance all day finally caught them.

It was the thunder finally drove them up for air. They broke apart to see that clouds blocked out the sun some time ago, and rain threatened to soak them. Soon.

Exchanging a glance, they rose to their feet. He held out a hand and she wound her fingers through his. They hung on as they jogged back to the Jeep.

The wind tore at them as they wrestled to pin the soft top back into place before they and the interior of the truck got soaked. The sky opened up just as they finished.

As they piled into the Jeep, Daniel burst out laughing as he took in her hair. It was a haloed mess from the bandana and the wind and his hands and the rain. "Please tell me you have a comb," he all but begged.

She nodded primly and shrugged out of his wet jacket, laying it on the back seat before realising said comb was in her purse in the back. Daniel must have realised the problem because he held a hand out for the keys before shrugging into the wet jacket and heading back out into the rain. He tossed both their bags and her jacket over onto the back seat and pulled the purse out, tucking it under the edge of his jacket and carrying it back to the front for her.

"Thanks."

He nodded acknowledgement as she started the Jeep, cranking the heat and turning on the defrost and interior light before digging out the comb and discarding her purse onto the floor in the back.

He struggled back out of his jacket in the tight confines of the Jeep before swiping the comb as she dragged the hair elastics out of the rat's nest her hair had become, and obediently turned so he could gently brush out the wet mess, starting at the ends. As he got close to her scalp, he handed it back over. She made quick work from that point, plaiting the lot into a single braid that soaked through her shirt where it laid down her back.

"Well," said Daniel. "That came out of nowhere."

It didn't, really.

She nodded. "Better get moving before this turns to snow."

"Want me to drive?" he offered.

Shaking her head, she replied, "Nah. I've got this."

They stared out through the rain at the gloomy afternoon, and neither seemed to wish to break the silence. The rain sparkled in the headlights as she pulled out into the almost night-dark of the storm.

"So…" Vala finally broke the silence some minutes in. "While I'm not complaining…" She turned to look him in the eye and flashed a half-grin. "And I am really, _really_ not complaining, what did what happened back there mean for…?"

She turned to watch the road, and he stared at her profile in the dark vehicle. "I told you I loved you. I don't do that sort of thing lightly. As for the next step, I thought I'd take you on a date. A real one this time."

He ignored the fact that she hadn't said it back. She was a cagey creature and the words she'd already given him were more of a declaration of her feelings than he'd ever expected to receive.

"The last one was real," she asserted. "Whether you were willing to recognise it or not, you took me alone to a fancy restaurant. It was a date."

"I would never in a lifetime have admitted it, even to myself, but I think you're right. In any case, it was the closest thing to a date I'd been on in a decade. Even with Sha're, we lived on a primitive desert planet, and we were 'married' shortly after we met. I didn't even get the chance to court her."

"Sounds like an interesting story."

"Look, I know you might find the practice barbaric, and it is, but if I'd turned her down like I wanted to, she'd have been disgraced in the eyes of her people. She was willing to be married to me, and I fell completely in love with her. Enough that I stayed behind on Abydos when the others went back."

"I didn't know that's how you met."

He chuckled, tilting his seat back and crossing his arms comfortably over his chest. "With how slow I move, it's probably the only way I would have ever gotten married. We had one amazing year together before Apophis came and took him as host for his wife. I only saw her briefly two years later right before she died."

Her hand came off the wheel for a moment to rest on his knee. "I'm sorry. I know she meant a lot to you."

He studied her hand, running his fingers gently across her knuckles before she put it back on the wheel. "She was everything. I only joined SG:1 to find her. The last thing she did before she died was to let me know how much she wanted me to stay with SG:1 and keep fighting. I would have left, otherwise."

"So… she was a host." Vala's voice came out soft, heavy with the weight of shared experience with the dead woman.

"Like you," Daniel acknowledged, matching her tone.

"Do you not think it strange that you choose to move on with someone who's had similar experiences?"

"Honestly, no. I wish I'd succeeded. With every fibre of my being I wish I could have saved her. But I didn't. You've been through that. I don't have to explain to you how I feel about it. You already know. And maybe someday you can help me understand how she felt. What it was like."

"So you can use it to torture yourself? Not bloody likely." She turned the fan down. It was finally warm inside. Moisture clung to the inside of the windows, further closing them in.

"No. Just to understand. Seeing you here, having you as a part of SG:1. It shows me that it's possible to recover from that. Even if I failed in the end, it's good to know that I wasn't fighting all that time in vain. And even though I didn't get to help her in the aftermath, I did help someone. She'd like that."

"That time… was very difficult for me. It may take a long time before I'm comfortable speaking of it."

"It's your story to tell. You can talk about it if and when you're comfortable. Not before," he replied firmly. "My feelings for you aren't some weird way of projecting her on someone. That's not why I…"

"I don't know if anyone told you this, but when you stayed behind after Merlin's consciousness merged with yours, I kind of lost it," she interrupted his explanation by smoothly changing the subject.

"No. This is the first I've heard of it." He sat up straighter. "Lost it how?"

"When you were there in that lab, I could feel you slipping away. Like Merlin was taking over and there was going to be nothing left of you. Then you said you'd be right behind us and Mitchell dragged me through the Gate, and… you weren't. You were just… gone. I tried to find you. I was desperate to find you, and…"

"I'm sorry. She was determined to kill us all and I couldn't let that happen. At the time, I was the only one who could stop her."

"And yet, instead of killing you, she took you alive. Did you ever wonder why she was so fascinated with you?"

He shrugged. "I always assumed it was the fact that I was formerly ascended. Like getting to me was some sort of way of getting at the Ancients."

"That's certainly part of it, but I always got the impression it was more personal for her. I think she was jealous of my attachment to you."

"To me?" he asked incredulously.

"Daniel, I didn't just wake up one morning recently and discover I had feelings for you. I mean, when I first came to Earth it was more out of curiosity than anything else, but by the time I wound up in the Ori galaxy I was already developing a pretty strong attachment. Then when they brought me back and you had the opportunity to take Adria, to have your enemy at your mercy, and you chose instead to save me, that pretty much solidified it. She knew that. The great leader of the Ori couldn't stand that her own mother loved someone more than her. She told Tomin to kill you and I don't know if you remember, but I took that blow. I don't think it ever occurred to her that the reason I didn't like her was that she was a psychopath bent on universal domination. So she blamed you."

"She tried to make me like her. After I was taken. I think she thought if she could take me from you then she could have control."

She stared through the window as a blast of wind buffeted the Jeep, splashing rain against the side like a wave. "I love you. I guess that's what I was trying to say when I said you'd ruined me for other men. I meant I loved you, and I was afraid no other man could measure up."

It was a good thing she was driving. He'd have gone off the road after that statement. Never in a thousand years did he think she'd just come out and say it like that.

He finally shook himself out of his shock enough to reply. "I was afraid of the idea of being with you, for a number of reasons."

"Being…?" she prompted.

"Well, we work together. That complicates things."

"It's not against regulations. I checked."

A smile split his face and his surprised bark of laughter came out loud in the enclosed space. "You would, wouldn't you?"

Her heart skipped a beat at his grin.

"You should do that more often."

"Hmm?"

"Smile," she replied.

He leaned across the console and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "Something tells me I might be doing that more often in the near future."

It was all she could do to keep from turning and catching his lips with hers, but the road was slippery and she opted to not get the both of them killed right after they finally got together.

"We can go to Landry's office first thing and get the paperwork filled out," he said as he sat back in his seat.

"So, full disclosure then." She hummed in approval.

"I see no reason not to be transparent about this."

"I wonder who's going to win the pool," she mused to herself.

"Excuse me?"

"You know. The betting pool. On us. When and if we'll end up together, and how? It's been going for years."

He sat up straight and shot her a horrified glance. "Who is running this pool, anyways?"

She unsuccessfully bit back a smirk. "O'Neil."

He slumped back grumpily in his seat. "Of course it would be."

"He's your friend and he wants you to be happy. Is it his fault he doesn't think you're capable of such a thing?"

"Hey!"

"I wish I could have seen SG:1 when he led it. I hear he's the one who used to drive you crazy."

"Exceedingly."

"Well he says I've done an admirable job replacing him in that regard."

"He would."

"Sweetie," she patted his leg condescendingly. "You know your life would be boring without me."

He couldn't really argue that point.

The storm stretched all the way back to Colorado Springs, and it made for slow going. They made it back by early evening, and Vala's stomach was growling loudly as they arrived back in town.

"Dinner?" he asked.

Nodding, she replied, "I know a place."

They pulled up to the curb in an older part of town, next to a long, low building painted in an unassuming white. Rain slid down the neck of his jacket as they darted to the shelter of the overhang and passed a glowing neon sign in the window that read _CAFÉ OPEN._ She led the way through a grey-green door and into the bright lights of a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant.

The place was cluttered with pictures and boxing gloves hanging on the wall. An old television quietly broadcast the news from its spot high up near the window to the kitchen. Plain metal chairs surrounded wood laminate tables. There was a handful of other diners scattered about in various stages of eating and ordering, and the hum of their voices surrounded them.

Aside from the size, it was not dissimilar to the diner where they'd eaten lunch that morning.

He was a little surprised she hadn't chosen a fancier place for their first real date.

"Take an open table, honey," one of the two waitresses said as they passed.

"Sure," Vala said distractedly, more focused on the bear of a man wearing a white muscle shirt and apron who was walking towards them from the kitchen.

"Val!" the man shouted, broad smile cracking his face as he held his arms out.

Far from resisting, she all but ran the last couple of steps and allowed herself to be crushed into his embrace.

The man pushed her back out, holding her at arms' length as he looked her up and down. "You look like you been doin' well for yourself! It's been a long time."

"It has. It's good to see you, Sal." She turned sideways, reaching back to grab Daniel by the arm and drag him up next to her. Sliding her arm around his back, she added, "Sal, this is Daniel. He's a co-worker and good friend. Daniel, this is Sal. He gave me a job and a place to stay back when I lost my memories."

Ah. She'd told him about the place and the man at the time, but Daniel had never been there himself. In the intervening years, he'd forgotten completely.

Daniel held out a hand and had it gripped warmly and shaken vigorously. "So…" Sal eyed him up, "You two…?"

"Seeing each other?" Vala finished for him. "Yes."

Daniel grinned at her. "It's a recent development."

One of Sal's eyebrows quirked in curiosity. "How recent?"

After a glance at the clock on the wall, Daniel answered, "About four hours."

Sal grinned. "Brand new beau and you're bringing him here to see if he meets my standards." He puffed up in pride. "I approve." He beamed at them like a proud papa. "Well, what are you waiting for? Have a seat. Eat." He waved them at a table for two in the back near the kitchen and by the window.

They obeyed, taking the table he'd pointed out. "Well, food ain't gonna cook itself." With that he went back to the kitchen.

"So," Daniel said as he picked up a menu. "This is where you were those three weeks."

She nodded. "Mmm. I was hungry and came into eat that first day after I escaped. Sal cornered me as I tried to escape without paying. He was kind to me, believed the story I told him. Gave me a job and a place to stay."

"This was your home. Sal became your family."

She nodded as her eyes panned over the menu. "Him and a few of the regulars. You met Detective Ryan."

Daniel nodded. "Seemed like a good man. Was worried about you. Him and half the town, it seemed."

"What can I say? Everywhere I go, people love me." The Cheshire cat grin was back again.

He just smiled back. Who was he to argue?

Outside the window the dreary gloom of the storm gave way to the true dark of night. Rain glittered in the dim streetlamp across the way, sparkling like diamonds before joining together and running rivulets down the street.

They'd spoken for hours on the way back, and now were content to linger on their meal in silence.

It was so similar, yet so different from the meal they'd shared earlier.

Sal pulled up a chair partway through and they caught up on each other's lives. He sent them on their way with the admonition to come back often. They left with every intention of doing so.

Outside they stood under the overhang, hands stuffed into their pockets as their breath fogged the air. "So," said Vala. "What now?"

Daniel cupped a hand around her jaw, stepping up against her and angling his mouth over hers. She eagerly pressed into him, pulling him to her with the lapels of his worn brown jacket and making him forget what plane of existence he was on.

He pulled away slowly, leaving one last gentle press of lips as a parting gift. "Come to my place. Stay the night."

She staggered back a half-step, confusion darkening her features. "Not that I'm complaining, but I thought you'd want to take things slowly."

A smile gradually spread across his face. "I think we've wasted enough time, don't you?"

She all but launched herself at him, and their mouths came together in an almost violent clash. Hr hands coursed through the damp strands of his hair, pulling him closer, and his arms wound around her back.

Until Sal poked his head out the door. "Hey guys! Cut it out. You're scarin' off the customers."

They broke apart, shooting guilty glances at each other. Sal grinned back, waggling his eyebrows before retreating back inside.

They burst out laughing the moment their eyes met, and hand in hand they jogged across the street to the Jeep. She pressed the keys into his palm and briefly kissed him before hopping in the passenger side.

He slid in behind the wheel. "I take it that's a yes?" The satisfied smirk that accompanied his words told her he knew the answer. "Do you need to pick anything up from your house?"

"No. I packed a change of clothes just in case."

"Okay. One stop and we can head home. I don't have much by the way of food."

He took her to a grocery store to pick up a few things for breakfast… and a large box of condoms.

"Pretty presumptuous, don't you think?"

He shrugged. "Better to have too many than too few."

She pretended to be huffy at the thought she was a foregone conclusion until he took her hand and dragged her off in his wake.

He grabbed a jug of milk and a half-dozen eggs. Clucking her tongue at him, she pulled the carton out of his hand and replaced it with one that held a dozen-and-a-half. "How much are you expecting us to eat?" he asked in alarm.

"Honey, we will be hosting no fewer than four extra people for breakfast," she said as she pulled the basket from his hand, filling it with various foods in anticipation of the meal as he watched, dumbfounded.

Shaking out of his reverie, he rejoined her. "What makes you think that?"

She flashed him a scathing look. "Our team is nothing if not nosy. They'll want to know if we worked things out, or if the party breaks up for good. Mark my words, they'll all be there."

"But _four_?"

"Yu-p," she replied. "If you think O'Neill will be left out of this, you've got another thing coming."

"Dear God I'm in hell," he muttered to himself, glancing up at the ceiling.

"Mitchell will be the first," she added confidently. "He's been shipping us for ages."

"Uuuh… 'Shipping'?"

"It appalls me how much you know of the cultures of long-dead people from across the galaxy," she said as she placed their things on the belt. He stared around half-panicked at who around them might have heard her, but the only one near was the bored-looking lady running the till. Judging by her expression, she either hadn't heard or didn't care. Oblivious to his momentary panic, she continued, "Yet how little you know of your own. 'Shipping' is a colloquial term used to denote when one wants two people to end up together, romantically. Mitchell's been the head of our fan club for years," she finished.

"Yep. Hell."

So much for his plan to stay in bed all day.

OOO

They barely managed to get the groceries stowed before they were on each other. They left a trail of clothes to his bedroom and he ended up having to go back to the kitchen wearing only his boxer-briefs and a single sock to retrieve the condoms.

OOO

Vala opened the door to Mitchell at 9:07 the next morning, clad only in a black t-shirt of Daniel's that hit her at mid-thigh.

He slapped a hand over his eyes. "Dear God in heaven, Princess! Could you have put some clothes on before you answered the door?"

She stared him down, even though he couldn't see it. "Prude," was all she said before padding off to the back of the house, leaving the door open.

Leaned against the counter in the kitchen, Daniel sipped his coffee and watched her head to the bedroom.

"Come in," he called out.

Mitchell walked in slowly, hand still covering his eyes and panning his other arm in front of him blindly. "You sure? Cuz if I have to see you naked SG:1's going to need a new archaeologist."

"I'm dressed. Promise."

Teal'c peered around Cam. "Indeed he is." Teal'c was already in the kitchen by the time Cam lowered his hand, opening a cupboard next to Daniel and pulling out a mug. Pouring himself a cup from the carafe, the tall man stood by his old friend and sipped it black.

For his part, Daniel was, in fact, dressed. Of a sort. The t-shirt and plaid flannel bottoms were technically pajamas, but were still a long way from naked.

Cam was just finishing adding a disgusting amount of cream (but oddly, no sugar) to his own cup, and Teal'c was filling the kettle as Vala returned, having put on a bra and a pair of jeans.

She was still wearing Daniel's shirt, and he acknowledged this with a raised eyebrow as she leaned up on tip-toe to kiss him on the cheek while simultaneously swiping his cup of coffee. He sighed and turned to make himself another as she moved to sit on a stool at the eat-in counter.

The kettle was just coming to a boil as a new voice called from the door. "Everybody decent?"

"I should hope so," Vala called out in response to Jack's greeting. "Otherwise I think poor Mitchell here would have died of shock."

"Good enough," he said as he followed Sam into the kitchen, grinning.

"Well," she said, making a beeline for the kettle. "Something tells me your conversation went well."

"And how!" Vala replied from behind her mug.

"Vala here looks like the cat that ate the canary," replied Cam.

She flashed him an odd look. "It means…" he struggled to put it into words, "Self-satisfied."

She put her mug down on the counter and considered Cam seriously. "Oh, no, Mitchell. Not self-satisfied." Why did he have a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach? " _Daniel-satisfied_ , thank you very much."

Yup. There it was. He groaned loudly. Dammit, Princess!

Jack clapped Daniel hard on the back, laughing loudly. "I wasn't like this when you and Sam finally got together," Daniel accused him, glowering.

"Thanks for that," Sam replied, raising her mug in salute.

"Yeah well I'm allowed a bit of ribbing, Danny Boy, after you've been a monk for over a decade."

"I haven't been a monk," he shot back.

"Now, now, children," Mitchell admonished. "Let's all be nice to the happy couple. So," he turned to meet Vala's and Daniel's eyes, each in turn, "Does this mean we can go back to normal now? Team's back to a 5-man…"

"Or woman," Sam interjected, speaking into her tea.

"… _and woman_ … team?"

Vala nodded. "We're good."

"Thank the good Lord above," Cam all but shouted, grinning. "I'd say this calls for a drink, but since it's a tad early for that…"

"How about breakfast instead?" Vala offered.

Jack scoffed. "Have you seen this place? Closest thing this man keeps to food is a jar of mustard from the dark ages."

Vala sprang off her stool and made her way to the fridge, flinging it open and waving Vana White-style at the actual food therein. Jack peered over her shoulder and made suitably impressed noises. "I _told_ Daniel you'd all be coming," she said triumphantly.

Jack cast a glance back at the man in question, eyebrow raised. Daniel nodded. "That she did."

"That predictable, huh?" said Cam.

"Yu-p," Vala replied, pulling food out of the fridge and piling it on the counter by the stove. "Alright. Who's hungry?"

OOO

Many months later she will be in their bedroom, eyes red and near-blindly stuffing clothes into a suitcase. Daniel will come to the door and lean against the frame.

Watching as his heart prepares to walk out the door.

"Don't," he will choke out, and she will pause. She will turn to meet his eyes, mouth set in a thin line.

He will come to stand before her. Reach out before letting his hand drop to his side. His impossibly blue eyes, red-rimmed, will plead.

"Go for an hour. Or a day. But not for a week or a month or…" He'll raise his hands, place them oh-so-gently on her shoulders. Not restraining. Just two points of connection between them in the miles that divide the rest. "Take the time you need. Just… come back. We can fix this."

She'll stare at him with wide, glistening eyes. She'll want to hope. So very, very badly. But she is so very tired. This has been a long time coming. Things haven't been good for a while. They both know this.

She'll begin to shake her head and his hand will raise to cup her cheek. He'll lean forward. Rest his forehead on hers. Both of their eyes will fall closed. "Please. We can go for counselling. I'll get assigned to another team. I will do whatever it takes."

He'll back away so he can look her in the eye once more, the intensity that she loves and hates shining out of his own. "I love you, Vala. I think I could live without you but I don't want to. You are everything vibrant and bright and exciting in my life. I can't stand the idea of going back to the boring life I had before I met you."

She will consider this for a moment, cocking her head. She'll bite her lip before replying, "Okay. I'll go to Sam's for the evening. Get some girl time." She'll start carefully refolding the clothes she's flung into the suitcase and he'll join her in that. As she starts to put them back in her dresser she'll continue, "I'll take a cab back tonight."

"Do you want me to sleep on the couch?" he'll ask, not unkindly.

"No." She won't hesitate before saying it. "No I need…" And he'll pull her gently into his arms, and she'll wrap hers around him and hang on for dear life. He'll kiss her hair and stroke his hands over her back and they'll settle around each other for a while.

As they separate, he'll ask, "Do you want me to drive you to Sam's?"

She'll nod.

After that they'll learn to take more time away from each other. Living together and working together is too much. She'll take the occasional mission with another team. He'll go work a dig for a couple of weeks, once or twice a year, and come back missing her like crazy.

And it will work.

They'll argue like cats and dogs, and drive each other crazy, but never again will either one decide to leave.

OOO

A year or so after that they'll be coming back early from a routine mission and Daniel will nod to Walter up in the control room. He and Landry will come down to the gateroom to debrief. Landry will tell the security personnel lining the room to stand down and Walter will hand Daniel a small flat case. Landry will watch the exchange with his head cocked and a bemused almost-smile in the corner of his mouth.

With two dozen armed men lining the room, Daniel will open the case and hold it for Vala to see the contents. Always one for treasure, she will peer inside with an anticipatory grin.

The grin will fall from her face as she spies two strips of bone inside. "You know I love you, Sweetie, but if you recall those will literally kill us if we get too far apart." She won't notice when Cam steps into Daniel's place and takes over holding the case.

She will notice when Daniel, down on one knee now, holds open a much smaller velvet box holding a gorgeous platinum ring with three sapphires surrounded by smaller diamonds, and says, "Well would you prefer this instead?"

She will, for one of the rare times in her life, be struck speechless.

"Vala Mal Doran," he'll say as he raises to his feet. "You and I are so used to arguing and making up again that I was wondering if you wanted to get married so as to do it more conveniently."

It's an odd turn of phrase, but she knows it's paraphrased from a book he's loved since he was a child, and it is perfect for them.

She will nearly knock the box out of his hands as she jumps into his arms and kisses him in a very un-co-workerlike way. The room, and the control room above, will erupt in cheers.

A few bills may or may not change hands.

He will have preferred to ask her in a quiet, more private setting, but he knows the woman he loves. She needs a declaration. She doesn't need him to humiliate himself so much as she needs him to be _willing_ to humiliate himself.

He'll slide the ring on her finger and they'll walk out of the gateroom holding hands and grinning like teenagers.

OOO

Some time after that Sam will marry them onboard the _George Hammond_. Jack will be the best man and Teal'c will be the Man of Honor and Cam will give her away, with a broad smile and a kiss to the cheek.

The _Prometheus_ is long gone, but it will feel right for them to get married on a ship not unlike the one they met on, and officiated by one of their closest friends.

They'll beam down to Earth for the reception after and there'll be drinks and dancing and Teal'c will stand up and give a speech for his two friends. "DanielJackson and ValaMalDoran. It has been an honour to fight alongside you and call you 'friends' all these long years. It will be doubly so to watch you once again grow old together."

A faint smile will pull at his cheek as he walks back to the head table, and all there will wear near-identical looks of shock, exchanging glances of _'Did he just say what I think he said?'_

Vala will round on him as he arrives in his seat. "All this time you _knew_ that Daniel and I were together in the other timeline and you never said _anything?!_ "

"I did not. If you were truly meant to be together, it was imperative that you discover that, and each other, on your own. As you did before."

Daniel will smile faintly and shake his head and kiss his wife on the lips, thankful that they found each other.

OOO

They will not have children.

Vala is too bothered by the experience of having her body co-opted by the Ori and her child growing up without her to wish to repeat the experience.

Both of the women that Daniel has loved have borne children not by their choice, so Daniel is more than content to stand by Vala's decision.

Not long after their wedding they will move to Atlantis. By this time SG:1 will have broken up. Sam is captain of the _George Hammond_ and has accepted Cameron's request to serve as her second-in-command. She will be surprised by the request, but in Cam's words, "I'm tired of being responsible when everything goes to shit. Your turn." She'll be glad to keep her old friend by her side.

Teal'c will marry Ishta and they will move to the new Jaffa planet together. He will act act as an ambassador to Earth as well as helping to strengthen the free Jaffa under the leadership of his son Rya'c.

Daniel and Teal'c will visit each other often.

Atlantis will return to the Pegasus galaxy to continue the fight against the Wraith. For the most part, Daniel will remain in the city, translating Ancient and exploring undiscovered parts of the city. He and Dr. McKay will form the kind of vitriolic friendship that Daniel seems to collect.

Vala will split her time with the off-world teams and working with Daniel. The time apart will further strengthen their relationship, and they will no longer have to plan time apart.

Atlantis will be every bit as incredible as Daniel hoped it would be. He will get to experience it with the woman who prevented him from going there, twice. She will love it every bit as much as he does.

One day Vala's team will come across a village that has been culled. She will find a dirty little girl huddled under a porch and lure her out with food and pick her up and the little girl will cling to her neck and Vala will refuse to set her down until they're back at Atlantis. She will be a serious little girl with wide blue eyes and blonde hair and remind them both of Samantha.

Daniel will take one look at Vala's face and find a mother's fierce protection there, and determination to do right by this child. He will take one look at the little girl's face and feel a driving need to keep her safe. The first time he holds her in his arms he will know that she is theirs.

Daniel will teach her Ancient and read her the myths and legends of many cultures. Vala will teach her all the best bad habits and how to have fun again. After the trauma of surviving her village's destruction, it will take time, but Vala is patient, bringing her on slowly until years later she is an outspoken little girl who likes nothing more than to drive Uncle Rodney crazy. She will grow to be clever and resourceful like her mother, stubborn and kind like her father.

One day she will be the leader of the Atlantis Colony.

And as Teal'c predicted, Vala and Daniel will grow old together.

Again.


End file.
